


even if the skies get rough

by elsanoelle



Series: let me go home [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Carnival, Dad!Tony Stark, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Avengers4, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Canon, Sexual Content, Superfamily (Marvel), Superhusbands (Marvel), Uncle!Bucky Barnes, dad!Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 05:03:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15112355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elsanoelle/pseuds/elsanoelle
Summary: Tony sits down with Bucky after Natasha turns down his proposal. Lucky for the former Winter soldier, Tony has had a lot of experience dealing with rejection





	even if the skies get rough

**Author's Note:**

> Domestic fluff, friendships and marriage proposals! Mainly because my twitter timeline has been flooded with images of rdj and exton, seb and buckynat. I also wanted to bring up some parts that weren't in line with the current tone of the Music series. I know it's a crossover, hope it's not too confusing. Let me know though?
> 
> Enjoy! :)

“Your turn,” Steve says, resigning.

He limps towards the dining table and tosses the kitchen towel over his shoulder before dropping into a seat to join Tony. The brunette raises his eyes from the StarkPad he was reading from, his glasses still resting on the tip of his nose, to study the exasperation mapped across his partner’s face. He minimises the email to divert his attention to Steve.

“He won’t eat?” Tony asks, peering over Steve to see their son’s back hunched over on the carpet in the living area, with a sea of color-grouped Lego blocks surrounding him. At the edge of the living room were finished products – Lady Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, the old Avengers Tower.

Steve frowns. “Well he finished the bacon and eggs but he won’t touch the vegetables. I told you letting him play during dinner time was a bad idea – you know how focused he gets especially when he starts building,” Steve says as he leans into a balled fist, unsmiling and tired. “I wonder where he got _that_ from," he finishes, shooting an accusingly look to his better half.

"Four year old son of a genius and master tactician - 1, master tactician himself - 0," Tony jokes, showing no remorse over his bad habits.

Steve rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, you shaved," Steve says, noticing the absence of the messy stubble his husband sported lately as opposed to his signature goatee. He lifts Tony's smooth chin with a finger, rotating his face from left to right, inspecting the handsome man who was just playing along. "And you're wearing spectacles. New look?"

“Just noticed you getting hot and bothered over some of my pictures from MIT the other day. Thought I’d treat you with a Tony Stark bespectacled look from the 80s,” Tony says, wiggling his eyebrows seductively. "You like?"

Steve scrunches up his nose in disinterest. “Nope, not doing it for me at all,” he says, all but lies. 

“Oh, you ingrate. I'll have you know I was a total babe back then,” he says in mock-offense, rising to his feet. "Nerd yes, but totally bang-worthy."

Steve finally laughs but does not retort. “Careful though. I stepped on two pieces earlier – super serum or not, it still hurts like a _beeeeetroot_.”

Tony chuckles at Steve’s swap of words to vent his frustration in a child-friendly manner. He ruffles the blond's hair fondly before walking into the battle zone, tip-toeing through the minefield of Lego blocks. “Hey Petey,” Tony greets as he hovers over his son with his hands on his waist, admiring the chaos.

“Hi Daddy,” Peter chirps but doesn’t look up.

“Good job on the Empire State there, baby. Listen; remember what we agreed on? You only get to play during dinnertime if you agree to finish your meals. I got a report from Pops over there that there’s still some left but you won't eat 'em," Tony reasons.

Peter continues to fit in the tan bricks.

"Come on Petey, let's do this, fair is fair," Tony coaxes, clapping his hands for attention.

The four year old ignores him.

“Peter,” Tony repeats himself as he picks up the plastic plate with Peter’s half-eaten dinner that Steve had left on the coffee table, and proceeds to squat next to the toddler. He still loomed over his tiny son, so he plants a hand on the carpet to duck lower. “ _Peter Stark-Rogers_ ,” he calls out again, this time sternly. "Are you listening to me?"

The little brunette snaps to attention and turns to look at Tony, blinking his blue eyes.

“Finish your broccoli."

Peter pouts.

"I'll even play aeroplanes with you. Come on."

"But I. Don’t. _Wike_ it.”

Tony tries hard not to smile. They adopted the world’s cutest kid, for sure. “Well neither do I, Spud, but I eat them anyway because Pops tells me to. Trust me you don’t want to argue with your Papa on these sorts of things. Take it from me - it never ends well,” Tony says, stealing a glance at Steve, who frowns and widens his eyes in silent protest. Tony suppresses a smile as he continues with his Dad voice, “Besides, broccoli is ...  _relatively_ good for you. Think of your Uncle Thor. He eats tons of greens. Look at how strong he is, wielding good ol’ StormBreaker.”

“But Uncle Thor can lift the hammer because he’s worthy,” Peter reasons, catching Tony off-guard. “And he’s a god.”

“Oh for shame,” Tony concedes. “Okay you’re right about that one– Daddy gave you a bad example. I don’t suppose you know who Popeye is?” Peter shakes his head, fluffing his long brown curls. “No?” Tony glances over to Steve, who looks at him equally lost. “You don’t – you don’t know who Popeye is either?”

“That's getting old, Tony,” Steve deadpans.

 _"You’re_ old,” Tony corrects, and turns back to his son. “Thor is more of a Brutus anyway,” he mutters to himself. “Come on champ, a deal’s a deal, if you don’t honor this one, you’re out of business. Not gonna be able to back you up next time,” Tony coerces then waits, allowing Peter to decide on his next move.

“Okay,” Peter whines, finally putting away his bricks before crawling into his father's lap. Three mouthfuls of veggies later, the plate was wiped clean. Tony makes his way back to the kitchen to hand the empty plate and fork to Steve, shooting a triumphant grin.

“You wanna take it from here? I wasn’t done going through the emails.”

“Sure,” Steve smiles as he gets up. “You’re so much better at this Tony. I think I coddle him too much.”

“Ah, ah, none of that. We're in this together. I’m just better at making things up as I go along,” Tony says, laying a chaste kiss on Steve before settling on the dinner table to go back to his tablet. Tony flicks the inbox open and goes through the last three Stark Industries-related emails before he notes a particular unread email.

“Uh, Honey?" he calls out. "Are you supposed to be somewhere this weekend?”

“We’re taking Petey to town for the carnival right?” Steve replies loudly from inside the bathroom as he observes Peter brush his teeth.

“No I meant a little  _further_ than town kind of somewhere.”

Steve pokes his head out and nudges his chin towards Tony, seeking some clarity. Tony extracts the email from the StarkPad, converting it into a hologram for Steve’s benefit. “I must have missed this one. Rhodey's asking me to talk you into going for the special memorial service in Geneva?” Tony says, still half-way reading the appended email below Rhodey's.

“Oh _that_. No, I’m not attending that one,” Steve replies casually before his head disappears back into the bathroom. Tony could hear their child's muffled gargling and spitting in the sink.

“Why not? It also says here that it’s a special invite to _Captain Steven Stark-Rogers_ _to speak on behalf and in memory of fallen Avenger and US pararescue Samuel Thomas Wilson who served in.... the Wakandan war..._ ” Tony begins to read but stops midway. He clears his throat and decides against vocalizing the rest of the invitation, careful not to trigger his anxiety. “This is a big, huge deal, babe. You have to go,” Tony says, as he approaches the bathroom.

Steve emerges from it, ushering their son out and closing the door behind him. Peter hops back to the living room dragging a new set of pajamas with him, leaving his parents to talk. “Yeah I thought about it but I was put off when Jim told me they’d publicised my appearance even before I got the invitation.”

Tony leans a shoulder against the wall. “You think this is a trap?”

“No, no they’ve been doing these services before. To, you know, remember the soldiers who were identified and fought in the 2nd Titan wave - the ones who came back, the ones who never did. Jim goes to most of them, he will be in this one as well. I'm know this one has a special mention for Sam, honouring his service in the Army and with the Avengers and I would really like to be there. But the the whole 'the First Avenger making a rare appearance' news makes me uncomfortable - it's not about me at all. What if someone tracks me back here?" 

So Steve's main issue was the safety and privacy of his family. Unsurprising, since Tony and Steve became America's, possibly the world's highest profiled couple when the news broke that the two of them had married.

Even as the planet slowly healed, the world was blown away when the two most iconic Avengers revealed that they had been in and out of a relationship for almost 10 years before they married.  When the world found out there was also an heir to the Stark-Rogers family, things went a notch crazier. As private as they tried to keep their lives, the first year was hell; they were hounded by the press around the clock to the point Steve nearly broke the face of a paparazzi when he got too close to Peter during one of their visits to the zoo. Over the years the attention mellowed down with less sightings of Steve and Peter while Tony remained in the news as he still owns Stark Industries and had to fly in every now and then for board meetings.

“Trust FRIDAY, she'll keep bogeys off your tail. You should really go for this, Steve. It’s for Sam, he's a brother to you; it would mean a lot to his family too if you went for it. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about us. Petey and I will be fine – we’ll go ride the ponies and eat all the cotton candy without you."

“I’m being serious Tony.”

“So am I,” Tony bites back without any teeth. “I know you want to go for this. The only thing stopping you is the two of us and I’m telling you not to make us out as an excuse for you to miss a ceremony honoring your good friend. I’ll say it again – we’ll be fine,” Tony says, punctuating the last three words with light punches on Steve's broad chest. “If it gives you added peace of mind, I’ll lock in the nanites on me the whole time you’re gone,” he assures.

They stand opposite of each other in the small hallway in silence for a while. Steve leans against the wall and crosses his arms, frowning in contemplation. Tony does the same but he hooks his arms to his neck, watching his man. 

“This reminds me of Bucky actually,” Steve speaks again. “He called me this morning asking if he could crash on our couch this weekend. I told him he’s more than welcomed to.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Tony guesses quickly in cheeky tone, cocking his head to the side.

“I’m really not the best person to even talk about this,” Steve says, hesitantly. “But yeah, Bucky and Nat are going through some sort of a rough patch." Steve clears his throat before he continues. "He uh asked for her hand in marriage couple of weeks ago and she kind of turned him down.”

Tony’s smile drops instantly, the news hitting too close to home for them, more so for him. “You’re kidding,” Tony says in disbelief. Steve winces as he makes eye contact and shakes his head sadly, a strand of his blond locks falling over his forehead. “ You’re _not_ kidding. Well blow me," Tony exclaims. "Are they still together?”

“They are,” Steve says. “Bucky didn’t really say much over the phone. He said they were still okay, were scheduled to be in Switzerland actually, but some jackass wrote a stupid article about the Winter Soldier and that garbage gained a lot of buzz. People behind tall chairs have now politely 'encouraged' Bucky sit this service out to avoid further bad press. Bullshit politics if you ask me, Bucky's mad as hell. That, the busted proposal and Nat taking the jet to the UN without him... he just needs some time off I guess. Hence the couch.”

“No better person to lick wounds with than someone with shared life experiences,” Tony says jokingly as he pats his chest but regrets it the moment he notices how tortured Steve looked hearing him say that. He pushes himself off the wall and brackets his husband’s waist. “Sorry baby, I didn’t mean it like that,” he whispers in comfort, grazing himself on Steve’s bearded jaw.

“I know. I should still be apologizing for being an idiot back then. I hurt you so much,” Steve says, hugging the tinier man tightly.

“Okay let’s not get all sappy about the past. Problem at hand though, is settled – Bucky is crashing for the weekend for some much needed TLC with Peter and I, while you go put on your dress uniform and remind the world what a badass Sam Wilson was.”

“Are you sure?” Steve asks as he leans his forehead against Tony’s.

“Honey,” Tony starts, looking up and pushing his glasses against the bridge of his nose. “Peter and I will have the current Captain America looking over us with Iron Man on standby, while the former Captain America goes away for one night to hang out with the Black Widow and War Machine. Nat could use a friend right now too, you know.”

They melt into a kiss in the hallway, whispering I love yous to each other.

“Let me put Peter to bed,” Steve says, breaking the mini makeout session. “And then, Mr. Stark, you and I have got some unfinished business to attend to.”

Tony raises an eyebrow behind his half-rimmed glasses, still flustered. “Do we now?”

“Later, I want you to keep these on,” Steve says, as he adjusts the frames on Tony’s face, "and wear your varsity jacket," and leans to whisper, “while I suck you off on my knees. You can do whatever you want with me tonight sweetheart. How about that?”

Tony breaks into a grin. “I knew it."

 

* * *

 

The lights. The sounds. The smell of popcorn and hotdogs and caramelised apples filled the air. The carnival was everything Peter had been looking forward to.

Peter dragged Bucky from ride to ride - from the spinning cups to the merry-go-round to a walk across the house of mirrors. He cheered loudly and clapped as Bucky sharply tossed rings over bottles, shot moving ducks off the wall with precision and he never seemed to miss, no matter how lazily he played. Peter was extremely happily that afternoon, hugging all the stuffed animals Bucky won for him from these games, only to off-load them to his Daddy to continue his adventures with his new best friend.

Tony, in his bucket hat and excursion bag over his shoulder, didn’t mind playing the boring Dad role that day, while Bucky was the cool Uncle Buck. He tailed the pair closely from behind, besotted by the energy beaming from his child.

“Bucky let’s go, let’s gooooo!” Peter exclaims, patting the ex-assassin on the top of his head as he pointed at the next ride on his mental list. It’s a good thing Bucky sports a shorter hair cut now; Peter really loved shoulder rides – he would climb over Steve whenever he could, and would do the same with Bucky. Right now Peter was literally bouncing in excitement, his tiny feet kicking into Bucky's chest as clammy hands draped along Bucky’s face.

“Okay pal, calm down,” Bucky says, turning to Tony. “You wanna take this one?” He asks as he nudges towards the bumper cars, feeling bad for stealing Tony’s thunder on his day out with his own kid.

“No! I want a car all to myself, pleaseeeee,” Peter whines, bending over to look into Bucky’s blue eyes upside down. He sits upright and pleads to his father, pouting his lower lip out. “Daddy can I, can I?”

Tony shrugs. “What did Papa say before he left? No solo rides buddy.” Peter’s face fell as he chews his little lips. “Petey, your Pop wants you safe. If you get hurt, Papa’s gonna freak out like he did the last time and he’ll _never_ bring himself to go do the big boy stuff that he loves so much.”

Peter was still sulking but he nods his little head.

“But hey, I wiggled you an all-you-can-eat cotton candy run. Whaddya say baby?” Tony says, extending his arms to pluck Peter off of Bucky. Peter’s smile reappears as he slides off his godfather’s shoulders. Tony sits him against his hip as he passes the bag full of stuffed animals, a water bottle and extra clothes to Bucky.

They settle under a small tent where a makeshift cafe had planted itself under for a mid-afternoon snack.

“Sooooo,” Tony says to Bucky, dragging the word as they lower their trays of food and take their seats. There were banana splits, buffalo wings, a bag full of popcorn and a ginormous ball of cotton candy wrapped inside clear plastic. Peter sat in between the two adults, happily pinching off the colourful sweet fluff as his eyes roam the carnival, ignoring them while making more plans for the 2nd part of their day.

“She said no huh? Talk to me James.”

Bucky squints an eye in pain, and sighs out a laugh. “She said no,” he confirms, nodding. "Not for the same reasons Stevie did, though.” Tony’s eyebrows shot up but before he could respond, a young waitress appears between them to hand over their drinks – two milkshakes and an americano. She gushes sheepishly as she bats her eyelids to Bucky, who smiles his painfully handsome smile back at her. She lets out a musical giggle before she leaves them.

“You were saying,” Tony says, redirecting focus.

“Well if I _really_ think about it, she didn’t exactly say no. She just doesn’t see a point of it all, getting hitched. Given our lifestyle. What we do. She says she’s happy, she loves me, she’ll consider us adopting one day if that’s what we both want but marriage is-“

“ _Oh boy_ ,” Tony interrupts, all too familiar, not needing to hear the rest of it.

“Yeah, okay, it does sound like the same reasons right?” Bucky concedes, slurping his drink.

“She’ll come around,” Tony offers, sipping his. “Steve’ll talk to her. No better person to, given the circumstances,” Tony means it as a joke, maybe partially. Bucky for some reason looks away in deep thoughts. There was a moment of silence before they continue chatting.

"Stevie really loves you, you know. You must be something else, Stark," Bucky says.

They both watch in surprise as Peter yawns and nuzzles his way into his Daddy's arms, falling asleep. They share a look, and began packing their stuff to head home.

"You're not so bad yourself, Barnes. I know we started off on pretty shitty circumstances. The first time I spoke to you was 5 years after the dusting. Before that, all I wanted to do was scream at you," Tony admits.

"I thought you were gonna say kill me," Bucky kids but Tony winces. They've spoken about The Incident. Many times before. They've made peace, they've put it behind them. But every now and then the nightmares do reoccur, solid and clear, as though Tony was right there in the backseat of the car watching the metal arm reaching out for his mother's neck. These were Tony's demons though, he was not going to continue punishing James Buchanan Barnes for HYDRA's crimes. 

He hides his face from view nonetheless, as he scoops up his toddler.  

"Steve seems to think you're worth all the trouble. My kid loves you to death. I think you're quite alright. So here's my friendly advise - I actually have on good authority that Natasha's idea of a happily ever after? It's exactly what she told you it was. So you're not technically having a Steve-Tony epic dilemma here."

Bucky stays quiet for a while. "Who's your source?"

"A mutual. Nothing to worry about - he ran off to space for three years after she poured her heart out to him. It could partly be the reason why she's holding her cards close to her chest on you, Barnes."

He nods. 

They reach the truck and Bucky tosses the bag over into the cargo area. 

“How’d you two do it?” Bucky asks, opening the backseat door for Tony carrying the fast-asleep Peter. “You know, after..." Bucky waves his metal hand, cautiously arranging his words as he approaches a controversial topic. " _Siberia_ , the Snap .. the likes. How'd you finally convinced him to marry you?"

Tony stretches a half-grin. “Oh I didn't. I'd totally given up on him by then,” he says casually as he settles into the seat. "I wasn't gonna ask him again."

“ _What_?” Bucky asks, leaning into the opened window with both his arms stretched in. "No way pal."

Tony shrugs, but Bucky continues to stare.

“You really didn't know that?”

Bucky's eyes were wide; he slowly motions his head to the left, then to the right, then a proper head shake.

 

* * *

 

_Hi Tony._

_Hey. Got your message. Didn't think we'd be doing the whole secret meeting thing anymore._

_Thanks for coming. Can I get you anything to drink?_

_Eh I'm good. Thank you. So whose house is this? I hope we're not breaking and entering some old lady's property._

_It's uh .. as of two hours ago,  it's mine_

_You bought an entire farm Rogers? That's. Weird. And random._

_It's actually the reason why I asked you here, Tony. I'm hoping. There's something I want to say -_

_No. Stop right there. Whatever it is you've got in your hand - just don't. You're not-_

_I am. I am asking, if you'd do me-_

_Steve no. Don't fuck around with me like this_

_I'm n-_

_We're not doing this anymore. Okay? I can't go through this again_

_Tony please let me finish_

_No, you and I, are finished. That door is shut. We've - okay, we started having sex again, that's on me, can't keep my shit together, but you promised me you were okay with it_

_Tony you know it's never just about-_

_I don't want to hear it. We're done. Done with the whole relationship thing, Steve. Done pretending we'll ever work_

_I love you_

_STEVE - Are you even listening to me? Just. We'll stop sleeping with each other, okay? If it makes it easier, easier for us to co-exist_

_I. Love. You Tony. I've never stopped loving you, I'm madly in love with you and I'm doing this right now_

_Get up, please. Jesus Christ_

_I'm on my knee, because I want to be yours forever,_ _I want to spend the rest of my days with you_

_.._

_Tony, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to find my way, I'm sorry for all the times I put someone else before you, before us. I'm sorry - god I told myself I wouldn't cry when I do this, sorry - I'm, I'm sorry for lying to you about Bucky and hurting you the way I did, for Siberia and for not coming home with you when you asked me to, in Naxos. In Fiji. In Oslo. In Wakanda. You came each time, even when my answer was always no._

_Through it all, I've made so many mistakes. I could strategize for war, for battle to keep other people safe but I never invested above what's necessary when it came to you and I kept failing you._ _Yet you never gave up on me._

_I just did, Steve._

_No you didn't. You haven't. You're here._

_You - this house. What is this supposed to mean, Steve? You know where I stand, what I want. I've said everything I wanted to say, needed to say. I'm not going to repeat myself because nothing's changed. Alright? I love you. Sometimes I think I'm fucking obsessed with you._

_But Steve, I can't do the whole push and pull thing with you anymore. I don't have the energy to fight with you, I can't - I'm way out of it. I hate that we've been casual because, fuck sake. I am stupidly in love with you. But you needed space and I, I'd give you anything you want. Even if it kills me inside. I'm that kind of guy._

_I know_

_Can you honestly, really say to my face, that **this** is what you want? _

_Yes._

_Everything?_

_Absolutely. Marry me, Tony._

_Steven_

_Marry me, sweetheart. Move in with me here. I kinda want to wake up to you everyday, too._

_..._

_Awh, fuck you Rogers, now you've made me cry. I'm fucking crying right now, are you happy? I'm fucking crying, you're fucking crying. God I hate you so much right now._

_I love you too Tony come here_

 

_So this is it huh? This is where you want us to settle down in?_

_The place is pretty run down, I was aiming for the real estate more than the actual house_

_You can always tear it down, rebuild it_

_Well yeah. It's all I could afford. I am, technically unemployed right now._

_Why do I feel like we've had that conversation before._

 

_Tony let me do this right._

_No it's fine you don't-_

 

 

_Anthony Edward Stark, will you give me the honour and joy of being your husband?_

_Fuck that's hot. Is that vibranium?_

_That a yes, Tony?_

 

_That's a yes, Steve. I'll marry you._

_And then I'm tearing this place down. I'll build us home._

_You're home to me, Tony._

  

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> drop me some hearts, drop me a line to tell me if you liked this one - it keeps me going :)
> 
>  
> 
> title from : jason mraz - i won't give up


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